caminanvscapitánWhat's the difference?

Quick tell: caminan is a verb, capitán is a noun, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“caminan” is a verb and “capitán” is a noun - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#17,064
“caminan” frequency rank
#1,540
“capitán” frequency rank
18604
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature caminan capitán
Definition Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de caminar. Persona que dirige una tropa militar

Where the spellings diverge

Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set caminan and capitán apart are highlighted. They share 4 letters in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.

7 ch
caminan
7 ch
capitán

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: caminan is [kaˈminãn] while capitán is [kapiˈt̪ãn]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 3 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (verb vs noun), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 18604, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

caminan is recorded at frequency rank #17,064, classified as averb, pronounced [kaˈminãn]. capitán is at rank #1,540, tagged as anoun, pronounced [kapiˈt̪ãn].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 18604, this pair ranks #267,211 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - a relatively easy-to-tell-apart pair.

Orthographic DNA of caminan vs capitán

Shared letters: acin. Private to "caminan": m. Private to "capitán": ptá.

"caminan" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC  ·  "capitán" · 7 letters · shape CVCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • caminanacminan · caimnan · camiann · caminann · caminnan · camminan · camnian · ccaminan

Frequency comparison

caminan#17,064
capitán#1,540

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "caminan" and "capitán" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "caminan" is a verb and "capitán" a noun, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Which is more common, "caminan" or "capitán"?
"capitán" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #1,540 in our Spanish list, against #17,064 for "caminan". That is a wide gap, so in ordinary text the rarer spelling is the one worth double-checking.

Remembering caminan vs capitán

The fastest way to pick the right one every time.

  • Check the role first: if you need a verb, it's “caminan”; for a noun, it's “capitán”.
  • See each word in full, definition, IPA, etymology and its other confusables. Full “caminan” entry
  • Browse more pairs most likely to be confused. Most confusable

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list